


The sun will still be coming up soon

by sunsetseas77



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Anti-alien sentiments, Choices, End of or post S4, Future Fic, Gen, Kara is an inspiration, Mention of Minor Character Death, Morality, Vigilantism, canon compliant through end of S3 except no 2nd Kara, mention of other superfriends, operating in the grey, to brilliant practical somewhat cynical women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 08:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16193513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetseas77/pseuds/sunsetseas77
Summary: Anti-alien sentiment has grown in National City and the country. It's embraced, though not yet openly, by some in power. The Supers have been attacked and Kara has gone missing. Her friends are fighting back and scrambling to find her.Where months of increasing anti-alien activity could put the SuperFamily/SuperFriends without their Super.“Bracing. Yes, that’s definitely the word, she thought. The numbing started. Thankfully.”





	The sun will still be coming up soon

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this in July when I saw Atomic Blonde and the ice scenes got me thinking about Alex as a vigilante and the information that started to trickle out about S4 baddies worked into that.
> 
> I haven’t included Nia because there's so little information about her. And no Lillian/Cadmus given sparse information that was out there on the anti-alien groups when I started this.
> 
> Couple of points. First, no one is together, everyone’s single. Could some people have feelings for other people? Sure, but who those people are... Second, I almost always HC Lena as a year or two older than Alex - it maybe affected Lena and Alex interactions in this story.

Bracing. Yes, that’s definitely the word, she thought. The numbing started. Thankfully.  
\--

Unable to endure more, Alex raised her shoulders and chest out of the icefield diorama and into the light of the sconces across from her. 

She again mentally blessed her 'partners in crime' when her gaze fell on the highball of 25-year-old Scotch sitting on the small cast iron table next to the bath. She extended her arm just far enough to reach it and bring it back to gulp. She swallowed the spirits down, then savored a second pull, letting her mind remain blank beyond appreciation for the peat and honey flavors on her tongue.

Setting the drink down she flexed the rest of her extremities and digits to insure she could still rise from the white tub that added to the ambience set by the icy water. Her progress was slow as she managed the blunted aches and stings threatening her coordination. 

Free of the bath, she took a few steps to the soft chair that they’d liberated months ago from the sitting room. As she pulled on the blue terry cloth bathrobe that had been left along with the Scotch, soft-soled shoes hit the marble.

“You look stiffer than usual.”

Alex glanced up from the tie, short, damp hair hanging forward and dripping on the floor. The 'partner' who owned their hideout stood observing her, casual in black leggings and long tee covered by a loose grey sweater, hair pulled back in a ponytail.

A tight-lipped smile appeared on Alex’s face before she looked back down at the half-tied knot.

“A run-in with militia members trying to abduct a few aliens who made the common youthful mistake of believing their parents know nothing and therefore shouldn’t be listened to. Hopefully they learned their lesson tonight, if not from the incredibly threatening perpetrators and the badass moves needed against them than from their parents after I got them to safety.” The robe secured, she just stopped her collapse into the chair in time and instead lowered herself daintily respecting her body’s feedback.

“Weren’t you supposed to be limiting yourself to surveillance and other non-confrontational intelligence collection these days?” Lena admonished, concern underlying her words.

“It happened right in front of me,” Alex defended herself. 

She’d had help, but she didn’t mention it, even knowing it might reassure Lena. Instead she followed the agreement they had on limiting the exchange of certain details in case either was compromised.

“It looked like the new group we’ve been told about out of Central City,” Alex continued, “the one that may be connected to certain elected officials.”

“Damn!” Lena inhaled sharply. “I thought we’d have more time before they showed up.”

“I could be wrong, but the four of them were more militant and more organized, not just a gang of thugs with a loose ideal to band around. And the insignia fit the information we’ve received.”

“Four,” Lena stated, raising an eyebrow. She knew Alex was very good in combat but suspected more had happened than was being shared. She stopped with that single word though.

“The armor took the brunt of it,” Alex hurried to inform her, noting Lena’s restraint and eager to encourage it.

Shaking her head at Alex’s nonchalant attitude about an experience that had her seeking respite by immersing in water in the 50s, Lena moved to finish off the final slug of Scotch over Alex’s loud “Hey.” She set down the mug of chamomile tea she had brought next to the now-empty glass.

“This will be better for you after that,” Lena said with a nod toward the draining tub. “And this.” She reached behind Alex to set the blanket that had been hanging over her shoulder onto the chair back.

Even knowing it was improbable, Alex hoped Lena would let her warm up without subjecting her physical condition to scrutiny. That hope was quickly dashed. 

“What needs to be looked at?” Lena asked gently. “Unless Conrad checked up on you before the polar bear plunge.” The look she gave Alex recommended reconsidering any misleading responses.

Alex’s expression was sheepish as she shifted in her seat, uncomfortable as usual with offers of assistance. But their dynamic had developed from over five months of working closely together to the point that the feeling quickly dissipated.

Lena, familiar with the process by now, waited patiently. Seeing Alex lean forward in agreement, she stepped in front of her. Her hands were held apart with her palms facing Alex, question lingering.

“I have sore ribs and muscles on both sides,” Alex said. “And my upper left leg. My only real concern is the left shoulder. Do you remember the dislocation protocol?”

“Of course.” Lena moved to the side of the chair and slipped a hand onto Alex’s shoulder, running through the movements and pain scale with her.

As they finished, Alex sighed with relief. “At least it’s not dislocated.”

“No,” Lena agreed, “but you will need to rest it.” 

She thought for a second and then walked over to the cabinet across from them to peruse its contents and turned, triumphant, black cloth with canvas loops in hand. “And a sling for the next 24-48 hours should help it.”

Alex groaned but didn’t protest beyond that as Lena walked back over and set the sling around the injured arm. Finishing, she lifted the blanket and opened it up, tucking it around her occasional patient. “Comfy?”

Alex nodded. “Thank you. How was the office?”

Lena pulled a chair over from the vanity to sit on. “The usual after being away most of the week.”

After passing the mug to Alex with a few painkillers taken from her pocket, Lena relayed a brief version of the meeting she had with the DoD liaison to L Corp. She had been able to turn away his probing questions on rumored biotech advances, convincing him that his sources were ill-informed.

Her story finished, Lena took and set aside Alex’s now-empty cup. She reached back into her sweater pocket and pulled out a flash drive. “Top-secret delivery that was probably the best part of my week. There’s messages on here for you from Sam and Ruby.”

Alex took it eagerly. “You heard from them, too?”

Lena nodded.

“And how are James and Sam doing these days in Bumblefuck-nowhere, British Columbia?”

Lena let Alex’s routine disparagement of their friends’ location slide. “Reporting significant progress. Our former CEO and former CFO continue to do an amazing job of organizing and outfitting a clandestine cell system, which we may need sooner rather than later with the situation here. Sam’s understanding of current technology and James’ knowledge of media - they’re identifying opportunities for disruption and emerging challenges that many people would miss as they work through setup,” Lena ended, voice upbeat.

“Covers still solid?”

“Yes. No one’s looking for them up there.”

“Hear from anyone else upon your return?” Alex couldn’t resist asking tonight. Usually if Lena didn’t offer she didn’t ask but the fight had been difficult and, if she was being honest with herself, scary. She missed Kara every day but encounters like tonight’s intensified the feeling.

Lena shook her head, her gaze understanding and wistful as she looked at Alex. “No, no word from Querl and Lucy.”

Alex sank deeper into her chair. “Should we be worried about them? It’s been three weeks since they last checked in.”

“I’m not going to worry yet,” Lena answered. “I’m still confident that the former director of the DEO and the 12th-level intellect from the 31st century are capable of discretely tracking our missing Kryptonian. And I’d hear, even if it’s only whispers, given who Lucy’s father is. Also, Querl's unique capabilities would probably result in me being contacted if...” Her jaw tightened as the darkness of the thought caught up with her, and she cut off the last words.

Alex straightened back up, careful of her physical limitations but still strong in gesture and tone. “If you ever get contacted about him, you’re on a flight to join our ex-pats or to some other uncharted destination immediately.”

Lena’s guarded gaze flicked to Alex, but she went along with the suggestion, “And you’d come with me. We need to keep everyone safe.”

Silence followed, each contemplating one of the many possible outcomes that loomed around them. As each day passed, they might make progress in slowing the trajectory of creeping anti-alien sentiment and disappearing democratic norms, but ultimately they needed to reverse that trajectory. They were putting pieces in place to do so, but it was anybody’s guess if deployment and implementation of their plan would be successful. And the unknown surrounding a major piece whom they wanted but who was no longer in play ate at them.

The air heavy with uncomfortable thoughts, Lena stood and stepped to Alex. Her hand settled on Alex’s free hand where it rested on the chair arm, giving it a simple squeeze. “Enough,” she said. “It’s late and you need to rest. This melancholy isn’t helping either of us. Let’s get you to bed.”

\--

A distracted attempt to solder a joint resulted in Lena pulling her hand away and nursing the small burn on her finger between her lips. She set the soldering iron on its stand. Coffee was in order soon given that lapse in concentration.

The door to her lab slid open. The hand fell to her side as she swiveled on her stool to greet Alex, clad in a red Henley and black cargo pants and boots with mussed hair, “Good morning.”

“I’m not sure this qualifies as morning,” Alex spoke through a yawn. 

“Not my fault bedtime stories and being tucked in doesn’t guarantee you a full night’s sleep,” Lena shot back, turning away to conceal a smile.

Alex’s eyes narrowed but her lips quirked. “5 AM you is a riot.”

She walked to the lab bench and looked over the laid-out gear, sneaking a glance at the woman beside her. Lena was wearing glasses and her hair was up in a bun, but she still wore the same outfit from five hours before.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Probably as much as you,” Lena said as she turned back to the equipment.

“I’ll take that ducking of the question as confirmation you’ve been messing with this all night.”

“It needed extensive repairs before you could use it again,” Lena insisted. “I’ve been incorporating some new upgrades into the armor, which should provide better protection from blunt force.”

Alex sighed at her friend’s all-consuming drive. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Lena. You need to rest. Running on fumes isn’t a good look on anyone.”

Lena was usually sanguine in the face of such comments from Alex but the week had lowered her defenses. 

“We’ve gone over this, Alex.” Her fingers tapped on the bench next to Alex’s gauntlets. “She’d already lost so much and then losing Kal... You need to be here when she comes back. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure that happens.”

“Hey,” Alex said, placing her hand that wasn’t in a sling on Lena’s shoulder, “we all need to be here.” She lifted her hand and swept it over the bench. “Now, what can I do to help you?”

Lena smiled up at her and handed her a pair of tweezers. She pointed to the joint. “Can you hold that for me?”

Alex took the tweezers as they bent over the armor and Lena began to explain the upgrades, soldering iron back in hand.

\--

A few hours later, they sat at a table dappled in sunshine that slipped through the lace curtains on the conservatory windows. Alex was staging globs of peach jam on a croissant and Lena, showered and changed, was sipping coffee when the alarms went off. Both started and then abandoned their chairs.

“The sensors picked up one man approaching,” Conrad informed them as they entered the surveillance room. His 6’3” frame loomed over the console in front of the wall of screens as he disabled the alarms and brought the camera feeds of most interest to the center of the bank. “I’m not sure how he got out here; he appears to be on foot. He scans as human, no weapons detected. He’s wearing a ring with some sort of insignia on it, but I can’t get a clear view of it. Nothing else in that generic black outfit indicates his identity.”

The camera framed the back of a man with short, dark hair, his head turning just to the side to show a full beard along his jaw. His arm was just dropping from his temple to his side.

“That’s interesting,” Conrad said, examining the image. “His face has changed.”

Alex let out a joyful yelp of surprise, an uncharacteristic noise from her on any day but one that had been absent for some time. It was followed by a voice over the speaker calling out, “Alex?”

“Wait,” Lena called as Alex barreled off towards the camouflaged, subterranean entrance, movements jerky.

She turned back to the screens to catch the man looking around the area, bringing his face into view. “Mr. Schott,” she whispered, frozen for mere seconds by a fleeting relief before taking off after Alex.

She caught her just as Alex reached the top of the stairs, obviously frustrated when she had to stop and steady herself. Conrad swept by both of them, tossing his jacket onto the railing.

“Stay here,” he called back over his shoulder. “I’m both armed and of sound body, unlike either of you currently, so I’ll meet him. If it’s Agent Schott, I’ll bring him in. If not, be ready to deploy countermeasures.”

\--

When Winn reached the top of the stairs, his face flashed from cautious uncertainty into an ear-splitting grin. Alex blinked at least four times to clear her vision before stepping into the arms he held out to her, hugging back with her free arm.

“Careful, sore,” she said as the deepest exhale in months left her body. “Hi.”

“It’s so good to see you,” Winn replied. When they separated his eyes landed on Lena, who had walked up after watching the return to the house on the monitors. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

“Winn,” Lena said as she stepped forward with hand outstretched. Winn shook it, but Lena didn’t resist the light, questioning pressure, moving in for a quick embrace.

They parted and Winn’s eyes darted from Lena to Alex, expression uncertain.

Alex nodded. “She knows. Everything. At least, she’s cleared to.”

Winn looked back at Lena, smiling. “Welcome to the Super Friends from me then.”

“Thank you,” Lena replied with an answering smile, appreciating the sentiment no matter how tardy it was. She turned to follow Conrad, who had already retrieved his jacket and disappeared back into the house. “Hungry? We were just having breakfast.”

“I could eat,’ Winn said.

Alex seconded him with a “Yes.”

As they walked, Winn started in with an expected barrage of observations and questions. “So, who’s the suit? He really pulls off that subtle grey pinstripe.”

“That’s a custom Burberry, not just a suit,” Lena corrected him. “And the gentleman in it is Conrad Waterston, which I know he’s already told you.”

“Wow,” Winn was now perusing 360 degrees of his surroundings as they walked, “you’ve got the whole atmosphere going here – mega-sized manor with secret, gothic feel, over-dressed staff, hidden technology, dripping with wealth. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a collection of winged mammals in the basement and Alfred Pennyworth roaming the corridors.”

“She wasn’t able to poach him,” Alex contributed with a wicked smile.

“Really?!” Winn paused his gawking to look at Lena.

Lena made a show of elbowing Alex for her impudence, though it barely touched the other woman’s side. Alex feigned pain.

Lena ignored Alex to respond to Winn, “Please, I didn’t even try. Bruce _needs_ him. Conrad came with Alfred’s highest recommendation and a diverse set of skills. We’re lucky to have him. 

“And lucky that J’onn kept the mansion out of the DEO records so we could use it. I’ve renovated it with the help of Conrad and other trusted individuals. The security measures are state-of-the-art.”

They stepped into the conservatory as Lena continued, “Speaking of which, how did you find us?”

Winn sobered at that, reminded of present circumstances. “Imra and I came to update Brainy and ask him some questions on the AI situation, but we couldn’t locate him. When we analyzed all of the data on what’s happening …well, we decided we didn’t want to land so she’s in orbit on the Legion ship.

“We need help to find Brainy and the DEO is obviously not an option. I thought you two might be laying low after I couldn’t find Alex at her apartment. I remembered the state this place was in after Reign. When we scanned it with ship’s instruments and saw no visual of the building but active shielding, I came to check it out.”

His eyes settled on Alex. “I’m glad that I found you and that you’re both safe. ” He looked down as if to brace himself before lifting his head again, mouth set grimly. “I wanted to ask about some things. Is it true? Is Superman really dead?”

It was an aging wound, but Alex still flinched. Sometimes she couldn’t control the reaction. The pain that radiated from memories of the day itself and from all that had come after could be difficult to suppress for those who had lived at the forefront of events.

“Yes,” Lena answered Winn, steadier than Alex in the moment. “The short story is anti-alien sentiment had been growing, but we didn’t totally understand the resources available to that movement and the allies it had among those with influence. One group threatened Lois. J’onn intercepted them and then got Lois to a secure location, but Kal was adamant about ending future threats. He went after the suspected leaders. What we didn’t know was that they were affiliated with a very shady, black ops government group.

“From what we learned, they had a small amount of kryptonite, alien weapons, and Worldkiller venom from Pestilience. Kal was killed, as were all members of the support team with him. When we learned how, and we saw Kal portrayed within hours as a threat to justify the outcome, it became much clearer how closely that group was tied to power players, and how far the situation had deteriorated.”

Winn listened, his face stoic at first, but pain flickered through with confirmation of the loss of a superhero that he had not only met but also greatly admired.

Lena remembered the day of Kal’s fall vividly - the dawning realization that the DEO was home to moles and sleeper agents that Alex fought to keep out of her expression and words so no one would pull her from her position while it played out, the agony that Kara carried in her body, and Querl assisting everywhere but somehow keeping himself in the background, face impassive but fingers occasionally twitching together. Finally, the dead calm that she had snapped into as she reinforced encryptions and electronically buried files and projects at the DEO and at L Corp. Alex, Kara, and Querl had removed or destroyed physical items associated with those files and projects, including a top-secret pound or so of substances in lead-lined containers.

Then, she and Jess had crafted exit strategies. Only one was implemented at the time. Jess had sent Sam and Ruby off-grid within 24 hours of Kal’s death. Seeing where things were going, Lena surmised that the spectacle around the arrest and prosecution of a now-depowered Kryptonian for murder and other crimes against humans was likely to be too tempting for those scheming to exploit the volatility that had been unleashed. And who knew what might be planned for Ruby.

Lena, Alex, and Kara were in constant contact that day and for several after. J’onn had joined their communications chain within an hour, offering himself and his ad hoc network in any way needed. It was the last time they had all worked so closely together. Watching Winn process was a visceral reminder.

“I can’t believe they were able to do that,” Winn choked out. “I assume this all started when Marsden’s administration was discredited and brought down.”

“It started before that," Lena said, "but as far as the situation becoming clearer to outsiders, that’s when it started to break open.”

Winn was still rigid, as if ready to receive another blow. “What’s happened to Kara?” he asked. “The newsfeeds all say she’s been missing for months. Is that the truth?”

Alex peered at him, puzzled. “Querl seemed to know something about what happened to Kara,” she said. “At least he was agitated about her disappearance, but he wouldn’t talk. You’ve been in the future. You don’t know anything?”

Winn ran a hand through his hair then shook his head. “They’ve kept me out of the loop on what they know of the past, so I could return to this time. I worked on matters grounded in the 31st century, primarily the cure for the AIs. Imra seemed surprised that we couldn’t find Brainy, but she didn’t offer anything.”

Alex deflated a little. “You don’t know anything.”

“I don’t,” Winn replied, apologetic. “So, can you fill me in?”

Lena shot Alex a concerned look.

“I’m okay,” Alex answered it. “I can tell him.”

Alex paused, collecting her thoughts, overcoming the shakiness inside to recount Kara’s story. “After Kal, Kara became withdrawn. It was like after the invasion when her past losses hit her. We talked, but she was hard to reach.

“She and I stayed associated with the DEO. It was maintaining a veneer of respectability and paying lip service around not all Kryptonians, aka aliens, being bad. We shielded ourselves with that and searched for information from the inside with a couple of trusted allies.

“About a month after Kal’s death, Kara found out, and didn’t share, why Kal had been so determined. Kara visited Lois and discovered she was pregnant. It was early on and only Lucy, who had joined Lois, knew.

“Two weeks after that, someone claiming they had information on the attack on Kal contacted Kara and offered to meet with her immediately. She was in full protective Supergirl mode. She made an impulsive decision and went without backup. I got a short text absent of any useful information as she headed out. She hasn’t been seen or heard from since.” Alex paused, her throat tightening.

When it loosened, she continued, “What happened that day is an unknown. Kara disappeared and no one from the other side came out alive – no first-hand accounts exist. Digging deep, we discovered that the little kryptonite left after the attack on Kal was taken that day but also disappeared.”

“But Kara’s not dead?” Winn asked.

“She isn’t,” Lena declared. “We know that.”

When Winn glanced from Lena back to Alex, Alex nodded but offered her more conservative take, “We think she’s alive.”

“I was demoted shortly after Kal’s death so I couldn’t direct resources to Kara,” Alex continued. “Also, after she disappeared, I was watched closely for a time by one of the covert militias that were popping up. That’s why Querl and Lucy are out there undercover looking for her with help from us and J'onn.”

Alex choose to leave out how the belief that she had failed and thus lost her sister had devastated her. J’onn, Lena, and Eliza, whom J’onn had gotten to National City the day Kara disappeared, had worked to keep her from slipping into unhealthy habits or fruitless, possibly tragic, actions, such as storming the DEO or the offices of certain politicians. 

They had also argued against her trying to find Kara given the already obvious watch on her. She had agreed eventually to sending Querl if they could find him a partner who would help him blend in in ways not physical.

Then Lucy Lane showed up. Lois was safe, secure, and through the first trimester. Lucy had a nephew, a member of the House of El, on the way, and she was determined to find his powerful cousin, the head of his House, for him and his mother. She and Querl had, surprisingly, gotten on well together.

“That’s why we can’t find Brainy,” Winn deduced.

“Yes,” Alex confirmed. Feeling like most of the heavy narrative might be done, she took her former seat and motioned to Winn and Lena to do the same.

“Is James also hidden?” Winn asked. “I couldn’t track him down either.” He borrowed Alex’s untouched coffee cup and poured from the carafe in front of him.

“Yes,” Lena said. “James was critical of the story of Kal’s death in a very public way. It came from friendship and loyalty, but it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. The Guardian reveal made him an easy target for prosecution. Even my lawyers wouldn’t have been able to do much against what they could bring against him. They may have been able to avoid his conviction, but there was a high probability of an unfortunate incident occurring if he was taken into custody. 

“He’s helping Sam at what we consider HQ North. The two of them are organizing resistance from a distance, from where it’s as safe as it can be.”

Winn turned to look directly at Alex. “That’s James then,” he said, raising an eyebrow and flicking eyes back towards Lena for only Alex to see. Lowering her gaze and tearing a piece off of her croissant, she barely shook her head at his silent question.

Winn leaned back in his chair and looked between them. “You two remained here.”

“Yes,” Alex concurred. “I’ve continued with the DEO because it’s still in a limbo of operating for a shadow government that is sometimes the actual government, but not yet having lost its entire soul. I can work to our benefit, not quite trusted but not completely shut out. Certain higher-ups think they’re keeping me close, controlling me. Others quietly let me run loose. Meanwhile, I gather the intelligence I can and access resources that we carefully hid away.”

“And I’m here to keep corrupt businessmen from taking over L Corp,” Lena chimed in. “They just don’t know that. They think I’m working with them, giving them the keys to company resources, when I’m trying to sabotage them.”

“We’re both sleeper agents of a sort,” Alex followed up.

“It sounds like you’re both operating close to the edge,” Winn commented. 

Alex and Lena exchanged a look, neither disputing the statement. It was only inaccurate in that, on many days, they operated right on the edge.

“Why does the anti-alien contingent believe you’re an ally?" Winn asked, turning to Lena. "The media seems to report about you that way, but there isn't strong supporting evidence in what you’ve done or said. And your previous time in National City suggested you weren’t.”

“I have to be savvy and strategic,” Lena said with a fleeting smirk. “It helps that the DEO’s mission has become so murky and that we wrote over so many things in the days after Kal died, making records of my involvement unavailable or inconclusive. 

“Also, it helps that people with oppressive, hateful views are eager to hear you insinuate that you made a mistake when you turned away from their cause. The perceived validation is a powerful rush for them. It doesn’t hurt my story to have immediate members of my family, even ones I’ve clashed with, be figureheads of the cause. They like believing I’ve given up my flirtation with morality to embrace my true self.”

Lena rose with those words. She was sure both she and Alex could use a break from this conversation. She picked up a tray of croissants and fruit from the side table along with a spare coffee cup for Alex. Returning, she set the items down between her dining companions. 

“Let’s talk about something else over breakfast. Tell us what you can about what you’ve been doing,” she requested of Winn. 

Alex sent her a grateful look.

\--

After clearing breakfast, Lena informed Alex and Winn, “I’m scheduled to be on a personal retreat this weekend at an undisclosed location. I’ll be staying in and catching up on work.”

Winn looked confused. “How does someone as high-profile as you disappear?” 

“I wasn’t able to be found in National City after leaving L Corp yesterday. As for where I am, anyone keeping tabs on me would find it difficult to figure out if I left the city, and if I did, where I went,” Lena explained. “There are multiple L Corp jets I could use and the Luthor private jet. Information on the location of any of them is behind multiple corporate firewalls. I could be anywhere in the world.”

“God you’re rich,” slipped out of Winn.

“Yes,” Lena agreed, “which benefits us.” She gestured at their surroundings.

“True.” Winn turned to Alex. “So, what’s up with you?”

“I should make an appearance out in the world,” Alex answered. “Just in case. And it will give me a chance to take this sling off.” She looked at Lena, daring her to disagree.

Lena failed to do so, instead encouraging her, “Yes, you should get out there and act normal to tone down any suspicions about vigilante activity in National City.”

“I’ll come with you,” Winn said. “I can show off my personal image inducer.” He touched his temple and Alex and Lena found themselves looking at blue eyes over a slightly crooked nose that looked like it’d been broken in the past and a thin, wide mouth, all topped by short, dark hair with a distinctive cowlick. A second flick of his hand and Winn’s face was in front of them again, grinning. He held up his hand. “And I have this cool ring if we need it.”

“Wonderful,” Alex said. “We can talk about the last contact we had with Querl and Lucy to see if we can figure out where you and Imra should look more closely.”

Winn held up a finger. “One question. Why do you call him Querl?”

Alex flicked a hand towards Lena. “I’ve been hanging out with her a lot in the past nine months. It’s Lena and Querl between those two. It’s rubbed off on me.”

Lena shrugged. “We don’t use family names with each other.” She waved as she turned toward her lab. “Stay out of trouble, you two.”

“Bye,” Winn called as Alex latched onto his forearm and pulled him towards the exit, gathering a leather jacket on the way to the garage.

“Where are we going?” Winn asked as he activated his inducer.

“My apartment and the surrounding area. The objective is to be seen out and about, nothing complicated.” Alex answered. “I can’t take my bike because of my shoulder so let’s try to find a nondescript muscle car in Lena’s fleet.”

\--

After Alex checked in at her apartment, Winn suggested they walk for a while in order to be seen and not overheard.

“Like I said at breakfast, I can’t say much about what I’ve been doing over the past year,” Winn said as they followed the footpath along a pond in a nearby park. “I was working on critical things, important things to that time. But coming back,” he gave Alex a light bump with his shoulder on her good side, “I’m really sorry I haven’t been here.”

Alex looked over at Winn’s image-induced face before turning her eyes to the concrete. “You shouldn't feel the need to apologize. You were doing what you were asked to do, what you were told you could help with. Without complaint or argument. None of us here predicted this would happen.

“I’m glad you’re back, even if it’s for a short time. You’ve been missed. I may have missed you the most in the months right after you left because Querl was, … well, he wasn’t you.”

“He wasn’t annoying, and nerdy, and prone to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time?” Winn asked with a chuckle.

“Oh, he could be all those things,” Alex replied, smiling back. “He was just more 12th-level-intellect about it, and more naïve too, which was hard to get used to when you thought about all the computing power he has available. Frustrating was a word I used often.

“Kara worked with him because he had a natural deference towards her, and we eventually figured it out. But watching Star Wars with Brainiac 5 will never measure up to watching Star Wars with Winn Schott.” The memories of long hours at the DEO killing time nudged her towards nostalgia.

“Good to know I still lead in that category.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes, dodging a careening toddler here and a biker there as clouds skittered across the sun.

Winn broke it. “Life at the DEO has never been easy but with the turn it’s taken and with Kara gone – if you want to talk, I’d like to hear how you are.”

“How long do you have?” Alex answered, trying to be open to the question but noticing how her jaw had unconsciously clenched.

“As long as you need,” Winn responded.

It struck Alex then how, even as she had expanded her found family with the inclusion of Querl and Lena, it felt incredibly good to have an original member back. The casual familiarity of the interaction soothed in the face of a distressing topic.

“You know what Kara means to me,” she started. “And what the DEO meant, and I hope one day will again mean, to me. How am I doing? I’m torn with self-doubt, disappointed, scrambling, sometimes terrified, and often sad. 

“The attack on Kal had us on our heels so quickly. In retrospect, signs were there, and we weren’t prepared. I don’t know how much the shock mattered. We’ve successfully countered unexpected attacks and tragedies before. The difference was that the fundamentals, the rules, changed with that attack. And we’ve had to find new ways to exist and to fight back. Sometimes I felt, and I still feel, nothing but a cornered futility.

“I’ve tried to focus on what's needed, on what I can do to keep this city safe for its citizens and for Kara. Anger can slip in, or pour in, and fear. It hasn’t always resulted in the best from me. I know Kara would listen to anything I have to say about what I’ve done, but I’d have to think hard about telling her everything. Close to the edge is an understatement for how I live most days.”

Alex drew in a deep breath. “But I’m committed to fixing this; I was in a position to see it coming, and I didn’t. And I will do anything I have to in order to bring Kara home.”

Winn nodded slowly as he gave Alex’s forearm a squeeze of comfort. 

“What do you think has happened to Kara?” Winn followed up on her declaration. “You and Lena seem to be, maybe not on different pages but not completely in sync.”

“I believe Kara’s alive, and I don’t think the people who attacked her have her,” Alex said. “But Lena believes there’s definitive proof of that.”

“How?”

“Kryptonite.”

“What?” Winn sounded baffled, and Alex sympathized. Lena and Alex’s initial conversation about this topic had whipped Alex’s mind around before turning into one of the most contentious arguments they’d ever had.

“Unfortunately, the circle of people who know that Lena can make kryptonite expanded,” she said. “And the anti-alien faction that now knew decided to kill two birds with one stone. They would try to acquire kryptonite, which suggests to us that they still believe there’s a Kryptonian out there to be concerned about, and they’d test Lena’s loyalty.”

“This does not sound good,” Winn groaned. “Tell me she got out of it somehow.”

“She did, and she didn’t. She’s still the only one who knows how to make synthetic green kryptonite. She won’t surrender that. It's a crucial point because how do you know the kryptonite she gives you is effective against a Kryptonian?”

“It’s green,” Winn suggested weakly, face shading more that color at the direction the conversation was taking.

Alex breezed past his reaction. “By Lena’s reasoning, you need a Kryptonian. And that’s how Lena is sure they don’t have Kara. Because she gambled on the evidence suggesting Kara wasn’t in their custody and supplied them with an aliquot of kryptonite that’s defective. It wouldn’t hurt Kara. Because of course Lena figured out how to alter it and make the alteration undetectable with known methods. And they haven’t come to haul Lena away yet for betraying them, so they must not have Kara to use it on.”

“Oh my god,” Winn rubbed both hands over his face, “the risks you two are taking. I understand they can achieve important goals and I’m not going to be able to talk you out of them. But,” he waved a hand towards Alex as they continued to walk, “if you’ve felt things slipping in the midst of this awfulness, how would Lena be doing with inner battles and decision-making? At times Kara seemed to nudge her moral compass when she needed it, and Kara’s not here.”

Alex fought back her knee-jerk response, but she did level a piercing stare at Winn. Her voice carried months of struggle. “Asking either of us, asking any on the front line of resisting this, if we’re doing the right thing - the answer may be 'Not always'. It may be 'I don't know'. I’ll say this. Many have judged Lena. Few have taken the time to try to understand her beyond her business smarts or her family and even fewer have been let in by her to do so. Kara was, and Kara believed in her, believed she had a strong moral compass. I’ve spent the time now, and I’m with Kara.”

Winn looked away to glance over the pond, a thoughtful expression on his face. Alex kept her eyes on him and, after a minute of strolling in silence, he gave a nod to himself and looked back.

He surprised her as he raised a fist, and said, “El mayarah.”

Alex couldn’t suppress a grin as she fist-bumped him. “El mayarah.”

\--

Lena left the mansion's office after several hours of examining off-shore accounts owned by persons of interest. Releasing information on the existence of the accounts and where the funds came from to discredit people would have been a tactic used early on in this conflict. But knowing now where influence and spin would take that news and bury it, their tactics had shifted to an area she’s familiar with – hacking accounts and clandestinely moving money around. Her father and brother had been astute about many business practices, but the latter they had been particularly adept at; Lena was the prodigy when it came to the hacking. Planning to defund accounts of corrupt politicians and businessmen with the help of tools Lionel and Lex had perfected came with a touch of irony.

She walked by the foyer and stopped at the sight of J’onn and Conrad chatting by the front door. She wasn’t completely surprised by the timing of J’onn’s visit.

The Martian was in his Hank Henshaw form, which was normal for his rare visits to the mansion. It always threw Lena off a bit at first because it differed significantly from the face and form he’d used in public to protect himself after Kal fell. One of J’onn’s current covers was as a courier, which allowed him to access places such as L Corp, and his contacts at them. He and Lena more frequently interacted there. But J’onn preferred the identity he had originally chosen and reverted to it when he could.

Conrad turned and saw her, tipping his head in acknowledgement. “Miss Lena, I was about to inform you of our visitor. I’ve updated him on Agent Schott. The agents returned a while ago and are currently in the surveillance room.”

“Thank you, Conrad,” she answered. “It’s been a long day. I think we can handle ourselves tonight.”

“Of course,” Conrad agreed. He turned to J’onn and took his leave, ending with, “Let me know more about that intergalactic fantasy cricket league.”

“Are you sure?” J’onn answered with a raised brow. “It gets pretty serious.”

Conrad pursed his lips at the question. “I think I can handle it. I’m not a bad strategist and I know the game. I was a decent bowler at university.”

J’onn chuckled. “Alright. I’ll keep you in the loop. Good night.”

“Good night.” Conrad turned and headed off to his rooms.

“I stopped by to see Alex,” J’onn said as Conrad disappeared down the hall. “I thought she might be here.”

“They’re probably checking out gadgets,” Lena said, sweeping her arm toward the hallway to take. Her theory on Alex having some sort of assistance last night was now all but verbally confirmed.

They entered the surveillance room where their conversation was interrupted by a shout of “Papa Bear” and a flying hug from Winn that was enthusiastic and awkward and engulfed J’onn. 

Alex smiled in the background, for a split second taken back to what she couldn’t believe she was thinking of as simpler times.

J’onn nodded to her over Winn’s shoulder and she returned the greeting. His eyes narrowed at the sling that was back on her arm. She mouthed, “It’s nothing”, and he relaxed.

When Winn and J’onn parted, Winn motioned for J’onn to join him and Alex, but he looked back to Lena. “We need to finish up a conversation first.”

Winn returned to his chair while Alex leaned against a wall next to screens of readouts from radar and gear tracking other wave types over National City and the mansion. She picked up where they had left off regarding interference and signal modulation in terms of current and, to the extent it could be discussed, future tech. 

As Winn listened to Alex’s ideas on jamming, his eyes wandered over from her to the streaming data on the screen. He suddenly froze, staring with mouth ajar.

“What?” Alex asked, mildly put-out at Winn’s distracted state.

He grabbed her hand. “How do we replay this?” he waved at the data streaming behind her.

His elevated volume brought Lena and J’onn over to them.

“What do you need?” Lena asked.

Winn dropped Alex’s hand and explained. Lena swiftly fulfilled his request.

As it streamed by again, Winn pointed. “There.” He looked to J’onn, whose eyes had gone wide. 

Alex gaped, her brain stunned by what she was seeing.

“What are we looking at?” Lena asked.

Winn answered her question, his face animated. “Have you heard of the thunderclap?”

Lena shook her head.

“The Supers can compress air super quickly,” Winn explained. “The result of that has a sonic signature distinct to them. And it looks exactly like what was just recorded 2 miles outside of National City’s limits, very close to what looked like three military jets.”

Comprehension dawned on Lena as her heartbeat climbed. One thought had stayed at the forefront when she needed help to draw back from the abyss of doubt and fear during these difficult months – Kara’s out there, we’ll see her again.

Lena’s conclusion that her mantra was becoming reality was confirmed when she looked at Alex, who was visibly shaking, eyes moist, as she looked back at her.

Alex fought the excitement buzzing through her, tried to mute it with pragmatism, and failed. Her voice slipped out, a high-pitched wisp of sound with more hope and joy in it than any of their team had experienced in the past five months, “She’s back.”

**Author's Note:**

> Probably a 7500-word musing on Kara’s motto, how she can inspire the jaded.  
> Title from Let’s Be Still, The Head and the Heart  
> 


End file.
